Did the Garden of Eden really exist or is the story of Creation, Adam & Eve,etc., a spiritual explanation of God's plan for man? Please explain.

Answer by Richard Geraghty on 11/9/2012:

Dear JoAnne,

The Church teaches that the central meaning of the story of Adam and Eve is this: that God created man and woman, that they are the original pair from which the human race has come, they then sinned, and that Christ, God an man, died on the cross to redeem them. These teachings are the literal truth.